A senior citizen was found dead on a chair in the living room of her house at Kampung Sura Hujung, here, today with both her hands and legs tied.

The victim, Mariam Kassim, 86, who lived alone, was found by her daughter-in-law Zakiah Zainal, 59, at noon when she found it strange that her mother-in-law's sundry shop, which was part of her house, was still closed.

Talking to reporters, Zakiah said at 7am after sending her children to school, she saw Mariam's shop was not opened.

She said she tried looking into the shop between the wall planking, but did not see her inside, and left for town assuming she was in the kitchen "But upon my return home at noon, I saw the shop was still closed. Once again I went up to her house and saw her kitchen door open.

"I went into the house and saw her face down in a chair in the living room with both her hands and legs tied," she said when met at the scene.

Since Mariam did not respond to her calls, she called her 25-year-old son to help her mother-in-law.

She said since Mariam's house appeared to have been ransacked, she subsequently lodged a police report.

Dungun District Police chief Supt Ahmad Zailani Yaacub when contacted, confirmed the incident, but declined to comment on the cause of death because the case being investigated.

The body was later sent to the Dungun Hospital for post-mortem.